Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Walter Runeberg

Finnish sculptor (1838–1920) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walter Runeberg
Remove ads

Walter Magnus Runeberg (Finland Swedish: [ˈrʉːnebærj]; 29 December 1838 – 23 December 1920) was a Finnish neo-classical sculptor.[1] He was the son of Finnish national epic poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.[2]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...
Remove ads

Biography

Summarize
Perspective

Runeberg was born in Porvoo as the eldest son of J. L. Runeberg and his wife, Fredrika Tengström. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, and with sculptor Carl Eneas Sjöstrand.[1] From 1858 through 1869 he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen under Herman Wilhelm Bissen, acquiring a clear influence from the neoclassical style of Bissen's master Bertel Thorvaldsen.[1] He married Lina Elfving (1841–1916) in 1867. They had six children.[1]

Thumb
With his wife Lina in Rome, 1868
Thumb
Portrait by Gunnar Berndtson, 1879

After periods living and working in Rome (1862–1876) and Paris (1876–1893),[1][3] Runeberg produced many of Helsinki's best-known examples of monumental public art. The largest is the Alexander II Monument in Senate Square, a commission awarded jointly to Runeberg and sculptor Johannes Takanen, then completed by Runeberg after Takanen's death in 1885.[4] The pedestal features several allegorical figures. Notably, the figure representing Law is a version of the Suomi-neito, the Finnish maiden, here cloaked in bearskin.[5]

Runeberg was also frequently commissioned for private assignments. These include the bust of Ellan de la Chapelle in Paris in 1880, who became the wife of artist Albert Edelfelt in 1888.[6]

From 1893 to 1896, Runeberg worked in Copenhagen, Denmark.[7]

Thumb
Runeberg in his studio, 1910s

He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[8]

Thumb
Runeberg family grave, Hietaniemi Cemetery, Helsinki
Remove ads

Works

Statue of Alexander II

Other notable works

Thumb
Kleobis and Biton on the facade of the Old Student House, Helsinki, 1878[10]
Remove ads

See also

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads